Wire-netting machine.



PATENTED APR. 28, 1903.

J. RADY. WIRE NETTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11, 1899.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 1 R0 MODEL.

No. 726,342. PATENTED APR. 28, 1903.

J. RADY.

WIRE NETTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 55M. 11. 1899.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNTTnio dTaTns PATENT Timon.

JOHN RADY, OF BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE GILBERT &

BENNETT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF GEORGETOIVN, CONNECTI- OUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

WIRE-'NETTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 726,342, dated April 28, 1903. Application filed September 11,1899. Serial No. 730,064. (No model.

To (1,7,7 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN RADY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Blue Island, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ire-Netting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and improved devices to he used in connection with machines employed for manufacturing wire-netting for various purposes; and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement, and operation of the various parts thereof, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

Heretofore it has been impossible to make wire-netting with straight selvages by reason of the fact that the wires forming the meshes being attached to the selvages would draw them inwardly,thus causing warped orcurved edges, there having been no adequate means for holding the selvage-strands taut during the process of making the netting.

It is therefore the principal object of my present invention to provide simple and efficient means for holding that portion of the netting forming the selvages taut on its pas= sage to the feed-roll of the machine and for automatically gripping and' releasing said portions while on the said feed-roll.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to. which my invention pertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of the feed-roll of a wire-netting machine, showing my new clamping attachments for the selvage secured thereto. Fig. 2 is an end view thereof. Fig. 3 isan enlarged fragmental view of the feed-roll, showing one of my clamping attachments in side elevation secured thereto. Fig. 4 is a plan View thereof. Fig. 5 is a View in side elevation of the tension mechanism or apparatus, and Fig. 6 is a plan view thereof on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

Similar letters refer to like parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

Inasmuch as this invention relates to attachments to be applied to the feed-roll of a wire-netting machine of the ordinary type or such as is'shown and described in Patent No. 503,356, issued to me on the 15th day of August, 1893,and in a tension apparatus or mechanism, I have shown and will describe such parts only.

A represents the feed-roll of a wire-netting machine of the ordinary or any preferred construction, and which roll is provided on its periphery with a series of pins or projections a to engage the meshes B of the netting. Secured to the periphery of the roller A near each of its ends are a number of pieces 0 of metal or other suitable material, whose central portions are formed with recesses c or reduced and raised a slight distance from the surface of the roll to afford springs or yield ing portions, to the upper surface of which portions are secured clamping-jaws O, the adjacent surfaces of which are rounded and diverge, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, to receive the selvage B of the netting. Journaled in brackets or hangers E, secured to suitable supports, such as the ceiling or joists E of a room, are friction-rollers F, so located as to bein alinement, or nearly so, with the ends of the feed-roll.

Fixed to each of the rollers F is a pinion f, which pinions mesh with gears G on the shafts of the sheaves or pulleys G, which are journaled on the brackets E, as is clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings. Journaled at suitable points are idlers H, H, H and H, with which the selvage 8 contacts, as will be presently explained.

Fulcrumed at one of its ends to each of the brackets E is a lever I, which has secured to its free end a weight 2' to hold the lever normally in contact with its friction-wheel F, journaled on the bracket E, as before stated. Journaled on each of the levers I is an idler H which, like the first-named idlers, is pro-- vided in its periphery with a grooveto receive and retain the selvage. In the drawings I have shown the tension mechanism located at one end only of the feed-roll; but from the foregoing it will be understood that a similar mechanism as above described is located at or near each end of the feed-roll.

jaws. As the feed-roll revolves it is apparent that the strands or wire B, forming the selvages, will be gripped by the clamps 0, thus causing them to be drawn through the series of idlers above described, and thereby holding the strands or selvages taut or at the proper tension, the levers I being raised by the tension of the strands or selvages until out of contact with the friction-wheels F, thus permitting more of the strands orselvages to be unwound from the pulleys or sheaves G and to be wound therearound from the supply source. It is evident that as the strands or selvages pass over the feed-r0ller they will be engaged and firmly held by several of the clamps until in the revolution in the feed roll the weight or pressure of the strands is removed from the jaws of the clamps, when the strands or selvages will be automatically released.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a feed-roll, of a number of clamps secured longitudinally thereon near each of its ends and at slight distances apart to automatically grip and release the selvages of the netting, each of said clamps comprising a piece having its lower central portion formed with a recess, and two jaws secured to the upper portion of said piece and having their adjacent ends projecting upwardly and diverging, substantially as described.

2. In a wire-netting machine, the combination with the feed-roll, of a number of clamps located near each of its ends, said clamps comprising a piece having its central portion reduced, and two jaws secured to the upper surface of said reduced portion, and having their adjacent surfaces diverging, substantially as described.

3. In a wire-netting machine, a clamp comprising the piece C, having its central portion reduced to form a spring, and the jaws 0, secured to the upper portion of said reduced part, substantially as described.

4. In a wire-netting machine, the combination with a feed-roll, of a number of clamps secured thereon near each of its ends, a series of idlers, pulleys and friction-wheels, to control the tension of the strands or selvage on its passage to the feed-roll, and weighted I levers each carrying an idler and adapted to contact with the friction-wheels,substantially as described.

5. The combination in a wire-netting machine,of the feed-roll having-means to engage the netting, of the idlers H, H, H and H the friction-wheels F having the pinionsf, the gears G engaging said pinions, the pulleys G, the weighted levers I, and the idlers H journaled on the levers,si 1bstantialiy as described.

6. The combination with a feed-roll made continuous from end to end and having on its surface a series of pins to engage the meshes of the netting, of a number of clamps secured longitudinally near each end of said roll and at a slight distance apart to automat ically grip and release the selvages of the netting, each of said clamps comprising a piece having its central portion reduced, and two jaws secured to the upper surface of said reduced portion and having their adjacent ends projecting upwardly and diverging, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a feed-roll made continuous from end to end, of a series of 1 pins located on the feed-roll between its ends- 

